Envelope sealing machine



Nov. 24, 1936. w. H. BRYsoN ENVELOPE SEALING MACHINE Filed April 25, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Stro: M49

ENvELoPE SEALING MACHINE Filed April 25, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Stro: my

Nov. 24, 1936. w. H. BRYsoN ENVELOPE SEALING MACHINE Filed April 23, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Nov. 24, 1936 UNITED STATES PaTlazNT OFFICE ENVELOPE SEALING MACHINE William H. Bryson, Savannah, Ga.

Application April 23, 1935, Serial No. 17,881

6 Claims. (Cl. 91-51) 'I'his invention relates to an envelope sealing device wherein a plurality of unsealed envelopes are individually and positively fed through a machine which moistens the adhesive on the flap of the envelope and seals the moistened ap against the body portion.

An object of the invention is to construct an envelope sealer which will be positive in its action of feeding the bottom envelope from a pile of l envelopes arranged in a magazine; which will convey the individual envelopes past a moistener with the envelope flaps upturned at an angle of 90; and which will thereafter fold the ap down and seal it against the envelope body portion.

l5 Another'object of the invention is to provide a rotatable moistener driven by the envelopes passing therethrough which will coat the adhesive on the flap of the envelope with a thin uniform iilm of water.

A stm further object of the invention is the construction of a pick-up device which interrnittently passes beneath the pile of envelopes to be sealed and removes only the bottom envelope Vfrom the pile. In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the complete machine.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2 2 oi Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view oi the complete machine with a portion of the moistening mechanism broken away.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross-section taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical cross-section showing the moistening roller and fountain.

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-section taken on line I--S of Fig. 1 looking toward the end of the magazine.-

Figs. '7, 8, 9, and 10 are enlarged detail views of the envelope pick-up device.

Fig. 11 is a fragmental vertical section of the sealing rollers taken on line II-II of Fig. 1.

More specifically in the drawings, I indicates a cast or pressed metal base plate on which is mounted a cast or pressed metal casing 2 which supports the envelope magazine, ap moistener and iixed flap folder.` Attached to the'base plate I interiorly of the casing 2 is a plate 3 formed with integral upstanding pairs of spaced arms 4, 5, and 6; while mounted in slots formed inthe upper ends of the pairs of arms I and 5 are horizontal axles 1 and 8 respectively. These horizontal axles 1 and 8 carry grooved pulley wheels 66 9 and I and in their peripheriesa V-shaped ilexible belt II is looped. Power is applied to the belt II through the medium of pinion I2 which is amxed to pulley II) and is carried on axle 1. In turn, axle I receives rotation from gear I3 affixed to shaft I4 of motor I5.

While not essential to the successful operation 5 of the machine, it is desirable to use a constant speed electric motor of small power. Consequent ly, instead of varying the speed of the motor, a governor 10 is attached to shaft 3. This governor may be of any desired form, although the conventional centrifugal weight type havingva brake 1I controlled by movement of thumb-screw 'I2 has been found most satisfactory.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that a hand-crank may be readily substituted for 15 the electric motor and that without any change in principle the machine may be efficiently operated by rotation of this hand-crank.

A second pulley wheel I 6 also is secured to shaft 8 and is mounted adjacent pulley wheel 9. 2.0 Carried between the end Vertical brackets 6 is a horizontal axle I'I on which is mounted roller I8 having a rubber, cork, or other composition surface I9. This roller I8 is driven 'by pulley 20 which receives power through belt 2I running 25 over pulley I6. The diameter of drive pulleys I6 and 20 is somewhat smaller than that of pulleys 9 and Ill. Consequently, the speed of driven roller I8 is greater than the speed of driven pulleys 9 and I0. The purpose of this faster moving roller will be hereinafter described in detail.

An elongated slot or opening 22 slightly wider than the Width of belt II is formed in the top of casing 2. As will be seen in Figs. 2 and 3, this slot 22 extends from adjacent the right-hand 35 end of the top of the casing 2 throughout the major distance thereof. A vertical, open-front,- oblong, sheet-metal magazine or hopper 23 is mounted on the top of casing 2 directly over slot 22 and is detachably secured thereto by de- 40 pending ilngers 24 which cooperate with openings 25 formed in the top surface of the casing. To accommodate various sized envelopes larger sized magazines may be readily attached to the casing as illustrated by dotted lines 25 (see Fig. 45 3). An adjustable longitudinal guide 80 yis secured to the top edge of the casing by adjustable thumb-screw 8l. Depending lugs 82 registering with openings in the top 'of the case are formed near the ends of the guide for the purpose of holding the inner edgezof theyenvelope as it passes out through the,magazineonftlevway to the moistener. .The adiustability of the guide permits its use on anyV sizema'gazine. u

Referring to Fig. 6 it will be seen that one end of the magazine or hopper 23 is provided with a bottom opening 26 through which the body portions of the envelopes are fed. Ihe opening 26 also extends upwardly at 21 to accommodate the flap of the envelope as it is withdrawn from the hopper. A resilient forked sheet-metal, horizontal guide 28 extends from the top of opening 26 outwardly and downwardly to insure that the envelopes as fed from the magazine are held in a horizontal position against thevtop of the casing.

Afilxed to drive belt I I are a plurality of spaced envelope pick-up devices 29. 'Ihese pick-up devices lle transversely across the belt and comprise a pivoted upstanding finger member 30 attached to an offset base 3| by means of-horizontal hinge pin 32. A weak coil spring 33encircling a portion of the pivot pin bears against the hooked linger 30 and base 3| so that in normal position the hook is held upright. The nger 30 has a forwardly extending hook or bill 34 and a lower horizontal cam face 35. f

This pick-up assembly is one of the salient features of the present invention, as it insures the positive feeding of the lowermost envelope of the horizontally arranged pile contained in the magazine. Through this mechanism the envelopes are individually and positively projected through bottom opening 26, one at a time, regardless of their thickness.

As before stated. a pile of envelopes to be sealed are placed in the hopper 23 with their flaps upturned and overlapping. When power is applied to belt I i the spaced pick-ups 29 move from right to left in the opening 22 so that the right hand edge of the bottom envelope strikes upon cam face 35 which lifts the edge of the envelope and pivots the upper portion of the finger 30 backwardly against the tension of the weak coil spring 33, this action being illustrated in Fig. '7. As the edge of the bottom envelope is elevated by the cam, it is projected to the left by contact with the hook portion 34.-` The inward curvature of the hook makes it impossible to hold more than one envelope. Continued movement of the belt forces the envelope outwardly from the hopper and, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6, the upturned flap passes out through vertical opening 21. Afixed to the end of the hopper and lying between vertical opening 21 and resilient guide 28 is a hinge member 3B having an offset lug 31 projecting into the bottom of opening 21. vNormally the hinge 36 is pressed downwardly -by spring strap 38. This hinge member cooperates with the pick-up fingers to bear against the envelopes as they are forced from the magazine and positively controls the feeding of individual envelopes therefrom. 'I'he spacebetween the top of the casing and the bottom of hinge 36 is suillcient to just allow the passage of the leading edge of the envelope therethrough.

Spaced from the rear edge of the hopper or magazine 23 is an upstanding ilxed guide plate 40 whose end nearest the magazine is slightly ared as indicated at 4| and, as shown in Fig. 2, is also outwardly curved at 42 to accommodate the outer periphery of the moistening device which will be hereinafter described. The other end of the guide 40 is bent inwardly and over on an oblique angle at 43 and terminates just short of roller I8.

A vertical bracket 44 is secured to the edge of the casing 2 directly behind the curved section 42 of the xed guide member 40. Fastened to the top of bracket 44 at the side thereof adjacent flared edge 4| is a depending vertically spaced flap Hulde 4l.

A moistening attachment also is supported from the top of bracket 44 and consists of an obliquely depending strap 48 which terminates in an internally screw-threaded cylindrical base 41. An integral Journal bearing 48. is formed in the strap member 43 and through the bearing opening 4l carries an axle l0 which is mounted at an angle and is outwardly secured by a pin 5| passing.

tom of and slightly spaced below the cylindrical base 41. When in position the bottle is always open. As shown in Fig. 5 the fountain plate extends inwardly towards they bracket 44 so that the lower surface of the cone i3 is always moist.

Offset brackets 60 carrying vertical pins 8| are riveted or otherwise secured to the upper ends of the spacedbrackets 6. A freely floating roller 62 having a resilient covering 33 is mounted on axle 34, the ends of the axle being perforated and carried on thev pins 6|. The roller 62 is held in resilient contact with lower roller I3 through the medium of coil springs 65 surrounding the upper portions of the pins 6| and bearing against the ends of the axle. A washer 66 and pin 61 hold the assembly in position.

In operation the envelopes are fed by the power belt and pick-up device outwardly from the magazine with their flaps upstanding, the spring iingers 28 hold the body portion of the envelope against the top of the casing 2, while the flaps are directed between the curved plates 4I and 45.

Continued movement of the envelopes brings the outside of their aps into contact with the outwardly curved portion 42 of the vertical guide 40; while the inside of the flap having the adhesive thereon contacts the rubber surface 54 of the cone. This frictional contact rotates the cone to present `a wet portion thereof against the adhesive to moisten it. As the envelopes are fed further, the upstanding moistened flap is folded over by the inwardly bent fixed guide 43 which initially forced the moistened flap against the body portion of the envelope. At this point the edge of the envelope has been pressed between the rollers I8 and I2 and, as the bottom roller is running at a comparatively high rate of speed, the envelope is forcibly pulled between the rollers and ejected from the machine in a completely sealed condition.

What I claim is:

1. In an envelope sealing device a magazine for holding a pile of horizontally arranged unsealed envelopes having their flaps upturned and lying in a vertical plane, a driven belt passing underneath said magazine, horizontally pivoted pickup fingers attached to said belt adapted to segregate the lowermost envelope from said pile andI propel it outwardly from said magazine, and fixed vertical guides directing the vertically upturned flaps of said propelled envelopes into engagement with a moistening device.

2. In an envelope sealer, a magazine for unsealed envelopes, a power driven belt passing immediately beneath said magazine, upstanding pivoted fingers ai'iixed to said belt and adapted to contact with and remove the lowermost envelope in the said magazine, and thereafter conrey the unsealed envelope through a nap-moistening device wherein moisture is applied to the adhesive on the nap of said envelope.

3. In an envelope sealing device, a magazine adapted to support a plurality of horizontally arranged unseaied envelopesvhaving their flaps upturned and overlapping, a driven belt arranged beneath said magazine, a plurality of upstanding horizontally pivoted pick-up nngers pivotally attached to said belt and adapted to contact with the lowermost envelope in the said magazine -and remove it therefrom, the said fingers having front cam surfaces upwardly terminating in a forwardly extending hook adapted to contact the end of the envelope as it is fed from the magazine and a fountain moistening device including a rotatable cone whose moistening surface lies in a perpendicular plane for applying moisture to the vertically upturned nap of the envelope.

4. In an envelope sealer, a magazine for holding a plurality of unsealed envelopes, the said envelopes lying in said magazine in a horizontal layer with their ilaps vertically upturned and overlapping, a horizontal power driven belt positioned beneath the magazine, an upstanding pivoted pick-up aflixed to said belt adapted to project the lowermost envelope of said layer from said magazine and carry the same in the direction of the longitudinal flight of said belt, an offset guide mounted adjacent the said belt and positioned outside of the magazine to engage the vertically upturned flap of the envelope as it is moved by the belt, and a moistening device rotated by the movement of the envelope adapted to apply moisture to the adhesive portion of the envelope ilap.

5. In an envelope sealing machine, a hopper. an endless belt, a moistening fountain, said fountain comprising a 90 rotatable cone having its axis set on a 45 angle and having a resilient covering on its periphery, a shallow pan supported below said cone into which the cone covering dips, anda fountain bottle supplying solvent to said pan, the said belt conveying unsealed envelopes past said cone with the unsealed naps thereof contacting the vertical plane oi the cone.

8. An envelope sealer including a casing, an. envelope magazine mounted on the top of and adjacent one end of said casing, an elongated opening in the top of said casing, a portion of which underlies the said magazine, a power driven endless belt riding in said opening, staggered pick-up ngers attached to the outer surface of said belt, a horizontal opening formed in the lower side of the magazine adjacent the surface of the casing, said horizontal opening having a vertical continuation adjacent one side of the magazine, a horizontal spring-pressed gate normally obstructing a portion of both the horizontal and vertical end opening, the said pick-ups on the endless belt contact with and project envelopes through the said magazine end opening with the body portion passing through the horizontal opening and the flap of the envelope passing through the vertical continuation of the opening.

WILLIAM H. BRYSON. 

